The Convention Centre Dublin (CCD) just opened its doors to reveal what they claim to be the first carbon neutral conference center in the world. The multi-use complex has a large performance hall, exhibition hall, multiple meeting rooms and a spectacular atrium overlooking the river. The CCD can accommodate up to 8000 people and uses an array of sophisticated integrated systems to vastly lower its energy consumption. They even encourage visitors to lower their carbon footprint as well.

While developing the project on a tight brownfield lot, the architects at KRJDA decided to stack the center’s program vertically rather than following the standard horizontal footprint of many similar venues. The vertically oriented configuration also resulted in a more energy-efficient envelope. Durability was a key design strategy as well, as the building has a 100-year design life. A key decision was to use 6,000 tons of low-carbon concrete in construction, which significantly reduced the building’s carbon footprint, but the real story is in the building’s low energy use.